Police collect 30 pounds of prescription drugs — in four hours

Ivanha Paz

Published
3:45 pm EDT, Wednesday, May 3, 2017

The Ridgefield Police Department, partnering with Rite Aid and the Ridgefield Prevention Council, collected more than 30 pounds of drugs in four hours last Saturday, April 29, as part of the community’s participation in National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

“Prescriptions and medication in people’s medicine cabinets are susceptible to abuse or falling into the wrong hands,” said Capt. Jeff Kreitz.

“These are the preventive steps to promote awareness of that and make sure they get disposed off properly.”

The department also has a collection box at its headquarters, which is accessible 24 hours, seven days a week.

“We always have this available and it’s completely anonymous — just come in and dump it in,” said Kreitz.

221 pounds this year

The police have collected 221 pounds through the department’s collection box this year, Kreitz said.

On Saturday, he stood outside Rite Aid while people delivered prescriptions to him in drive-thru fashion.

“We’re actually standing outside to make it convenient for the people,” he said.

The take-back box was added to the department thanks to Capt. Cliff Scharf back in 2011.

Chief Paul Roche said prior to that the department ran a drug take-back program via a partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim, which disposed of them.

Now the police department is licensed to dispose of the drugs, and after weighing them and reporting to the DEA, it sends them off to a facility to be incinerated.